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He added: “Snow levels will come down to around 250m during the night, so quite a few hills across the northern half of Scotland will see some snow, some showers elsewhere, perhaps wintry over the likes of the north York moors.

“Under clear spells temperatures will get close to freezing so there could be some icy stretches taking us into Saturday morning.

“So a chilly old day on Saturday.”

BBC Weather presenter Sarah Keith-Lucas also warned of cold weather heading for the UK this weekend.

Ms Keith-Lucas said: “Things are going to be turning much, much colder, the first early taste of winter on us I think.

“By about lunchtime we’re all in that cold northerly airflow, so lots of sunshine around but also plenty of showers too.

“Now most of the showers will be packing in around parts of northern and eastern Scotland.

“Some of the showers across Scotland will be falling as snow on the hills and the mountains as well.”

As the temperature is set to drop dramatically this weekend, British Gas are urging people to prepare their homes for winter.

The leading energy and home services provider told Express.co.uk they are predicting next week will be the busiest of the winter so far for its engineers.

Hannah Hughes, a British Gas service and repair engineer, told Express.co.uk: “We know that having no heating or hot water during the colder months is people’s worst disaster in the home, and this weekend could be the first real test for many household heating systems.

“We’re urging everyone to make sure their homes are ready to withstand the weather by testing their boiler and making a few small changes around the home to keep the heat in."

Met Office meteorologist Clare Nasir said thermometers could even hit as low as -5C on Saturday morning.

She said: "The countryside is going to have a very, very cold start to Saturday morning as temperatures dip down subzero, -3C to -5C so the risk of ice through the early hours of Saturday.”

Sunday should see showers ease across most parts, with winds also fading away for all except southeast England.

An area of low pressure will creep its way towards the UK from the Mediterranean, bringing strong winds and outbreaks of rain.

Conditions will be a bit wetter heading into next week, but temperatures are expected to recover to nearer the average for this time of year.